AI giants in the US see government as a strategic ally, says professor

The main artificial intelligence companies in the United States are interested in strengthening ties with the American government not only due to concerns related to the security of the technology, but also for strategic reasons linked to their own survival and expansion. The assessment was made by journalist and researcher Alexandre Gonçalves, professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, during his participation in the WW Especial program, on CNN Brasil.

According to Gonçalves, who researches the social impacts of artificial intelligence, this movement follows a logic previously observed on large social media platforms. "These companies want, in a sense, to be part of the American national security apparatus," he said.

The researcher recalled that, during debates about disinformation on social networks, companies in the sector began to defend greater State participation in their activities. "Facebook itself, Meta, went public and said: 'We need to be regulated. The State, in a way, needs to be inside our companies to help regulate speech on our platform'", he said.

For him, there is an analogy between that process and the current advancement of artificial intelligence. "Artificial intelligence companies are also interested in working in partnership with the American government," he said.

Gonçalves argues that these companies tend to become large monopolies or oligopolies and, therefore, see advantages in a closer relationship with the State. "These companies have a tendency, like social media companies, to become gigantic monopolies or oligopolies," he noted.

In the researcher's assessment, rapprochement with the government can serve as a barrier against future tougher regulatory actions. "They see that it is very interesting to join the State, to become almost hybrid systems, with a lot of regulation and with aspects of their work linked to the American defense apparatus, so that it is more difficult to break up these companies and so that an antitrust action cannot separate or limit their power", he explained.

When commenting specifically on the case of the startup Anthropic, Gonçalves stated that he believes that the company has adopted a more open stance to public dialogue about regulation. "The company that has been most generous in coming forward and trying to communicate with representatives of civil society and members of government to create a regulatory environment for AI has been Anthropic," he highlighted.

Still, he emphasizes that this disposition does not simply arise from altruistic concerns. "It doesn't seem to me that it's simply charity. They see that this technology is very dangerous, and that element exists. But it's also interesting for them to be seen as part of the United States' national security policy," he pointed out.

For the researcher, this positioning can bring concrete benefits to companies. "This will protect them and, in a certain way, reduce the regulation that the government will be willing to impose on them", he concluded.

WW Special
Presented by William Waack, the program is shown on Sundays, at 10pm, on all CNN Brasil platforms.

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*Published by Jorge Fernando Rodrigues

Source: CNN